Turns Out You Can't Use The DMCA To Stop 3rd Party Repairs

from the as-it-should-be dept

Looks like the courts have given yet another victory against blatant anti-competitive misuses of the DMCA. In the latest case, the company StorageTek used the DMCA to stop a third-party provider from repairing StorageTek equipment. If you notice similarities to the case about garage door openers, you'd be right -- which is why the court cited that decision in ruling that StorageTek (and the lower court that ruled in favor of them) had mis-applied the DMCA to use it as an anti-competitive weapon, rather than to protect their intellectual property.